The US government has reached the cap on the much in demand H1-B visas for 2007 even though the fiscal year does not start until October 1, the Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced.

The USCIS began accepting applications for the H1-B petitions for Fiscal 2007 on April 1 and the cap was reached on May 26 and hence high tech firms will have to wait until April 1, 2007 for applications for Fiscal 2008 that begins on October 1, 2007.

The H1-B visas, given to skilled professionals, are in demand among many Indian hi-tech workers.

The Congressionally mandated cap currently is 65,000 and the Senate recently passed its version of an Immigration Bill that increases the H1-B cap to 115,000 every year with a built in increase of 20 per cent annually.

The Senate version is proceeding to a Conference Committee, as it has to be reconciled with a House Bill passed late last year. There is nothing in the House version on the H1-Bs and hence the uncertainty.

Hi-tech companies that are pressuring Congress to increase the cap with a view to meeting the demand are pointing out that this is the fourth year in a row that the H1-B cap has been reached even before the start of the Fiscal Year.

The H1-B visas programme is dear to the Silicon Valley as its lobbyists helped convince the Congress to increase the number of annual H1-B visas to 115,000 in 1999 and then to 195,000 through fiscal year 2003. After that, the cap became 65,000.

The USCIS has said in a statement that there are exemptions to the Cap such as the Visa Reform Act of 2004 that allowed 20,000 petitions for those who have earned Master's Degrees or higher from American institutions.

This group does not come under the annual cap provisions. And for fiscal 2007 the USCIS has said that it has received approximately 5830 petitions.

The H1-B visas, given to skilled professionals, are in demand among many Indian hi-tech workers. The Congressionally mandated cap currently is 65,000 and the Senate recently passed its version of an Immigration Bill that increases the H1-B cap to 115,000 every year with a built in increase of 20 per cent annually.

Jobs Americans will not do.

2
posted on 06/03/2006 8:49:24 PM PDT
by A. Pole
(Gore:We are the most powerful force of nature.We are changing the relationship between Earth and Sun)

Good old law of supply and demand. If the demand goes up, and engineers are needed; artificially increase the supply to keep the company profits high, and the engineer's salary low.

I'm 46, and there just aren't a whole lot of engineers my age or much older out there anymore. Why? Because we are sick to death of being 'out-sourced', 'laid-off' and simply pushed aside. My coworkers have opened McDonald's, Subway and Quiz-nos restaurants; others have gone back to farm, while others have simply gone to school to be a trucker. Frankly, I'm looking at doing the same darn thing.

I busted my behind to get a degree; working full time while attending college for more years than I care to think about. I've been laid off 4x in the past 10 years. It used to be an indication of incompetent management when a company laid off their employees; now it's status quo.

So, now we have a situation at some companies where we hire 15,000 Indians in Bangalore, so we can lay off 500 engineers in the USA - all in the name of 'Globalization'. We ship jobs to China, India and Malaysia; and these countries aren't even our allies. We are training and educating the very people who will eventually be our superiors. Why? Because their culture understands what hard work and perseverance will get; while our culture punishes hard work, and rewards mediocrity.

That's definitely an important point. We believe in capitalism and merit, so we shouldn't complain if we fail to do what it takes to succeed. We need to have a culture that promotes hard work, education, not settling for mediocrity, etc. We live in the U.S., we have every advantage, we shouldn't waste that.

Amen. Currently the pay rate for an engineering position in India is about $15,000/yr. Of course the cost of living is also about 1/3 of the average US urban location. Is it any wonder those visas fill up as fast as they appear.

I usually post the following before these sort of threads get out of hand. Please note that the results are for four-year degrees. My decision not to study engineering a couple decades or so ago was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. Id probably be retired by now.

Yes, that is no longer true that engineering is a worthwhile career in the US.. The money people have destroyed it. I have 2 engineering degrees and today that won't get you anywhere. Today I can get a contract position in no time that will last at least 3 months and pay about what I made in 1992.

I guess that, whether or not Engineering majors are in hot demand, it's still a better bet than what my son is aiming for - professional baseball player. ;-) I keep telling him, yes, you should aim for your dream, but just in case that doesn't work out... there's engineering, computer science, accounting, or a medical field...

14
posted on 06/03/2006 10:44:13 PM PDT
by Tired of Taxes
(That's taxes, not Texas. I have no beef with TX. NJ has the highest property taxes in the nation.)

Really? There are permanent full-time engineering jobs with state worker benefits going begging here in NY. A shortage of engineering graduates in the US has created a tight job market, forcing private companies to raise salaries in order to compete for scarce engineers. Even with state worker benefits and job security, NYS can't compete. In some areas (downstate especially, due to high cost of living) we have trouble filling jobs like truck drivers and heavy truck/diesel mechanics because nobody wants to do those jobs even at state worker pay and benefits.

A buddy of mine got driven out of teaching by incompenent administrators, and went back to engineering. He landed a job with a private firm right away- had two offers to choose from, in fact. He's on the fast track, because he's very good at what he does, and doesn't give his bosses grief.

Good to see I'm above the average, and I don't even have a degree lol. I do have a few certifications from Cisco, Microsoft, ect. A degree is about as useful to someone in IT as it is to an auto mechanic.

Yes, that is no longer true that engineering is a worthwhile career in the US.. The money people have destroyed it.

Yes, things have changed for the worse but there are still engineering jobs available at all levels. The company I work for needs engineers and offers $5K referral bonuses to employees bring in talent (providing they are hired). I work in an electrical/mechanical environment and it is fairly stable. Its a completely different story for the software / IT types though - mostly done overseas. Lots of the people I work with have been there for 25 or 35 years. Many of the new college grad hires only last 2 or 3 years before they move on - frequently to careers outside of engineering.

The "money people" are inherently in a better position. Those that deal with the money are higher up on the power structure of a company and usually have more opportunities for higher pay.

Engineering professional societies need to be a proactive as the AMA is in preventing doctors from other countries from realizing credentials in this country and also to limit the number of engineers graduating from US universities.

Doing the jobs Americans won't do. For 15k a year with a degree, that is.

I'm really tired of importing people to undercut our wages. I mean, we work more than any other country. Average of two weeks a year vacation, which most of us don't even take. Come on, at least pay us well. Is that too much to ask?

""I'm really tired of importing people to undercut our wages. I mean, we work more than any other country. Average of two weeks a year vacation, which most of us don't even take. Come on, at least pay us well. Is that too much to ask?""

And I just got finished giving my son a "talk" about choosing a career that will earn him a good pay. I told him Engineering was the career to aim for. Do you think that's not true anymore?

First if all he'll have to bust his chops this day in age a 2.5 average in engineering will land you at McDonalds. Then if should work hard enough to get 3.0 or better he'll get a job making the going rate for fresh outs somewhere around 30 - 50K. He will work 60 hours per week there after and should save his money for graduate school an advanced degree is required for whatever he chooses to do next (management lawyer doctor) he will not be able to remain an engineer his whole life. At some point his salary will equal the cost of 2 foreign engineers and he will either stagnate salary wise or be laid off.

The better route: pick any major you will excel at (I mean get A's in your sleep kind of excel). If that's acting so be it. Then go to a top post-bacc program to get your pre-med requirements, nail the MCAT. Then go to medical school and get a combined MD-MBA. Then go into upper managment in an HMO or biotech company.

If you are a dues paying member of a technical society, it's time to get active and make sure they are lobbying your elected representatives to prevent H1B abuse. If looking through the following site doesn't fire you up, nothing will.

10 years ago, I would have agreed that enginering was the way to go. Today, I would probably discourage it.

Why? Are there tougher classes than Engineering courses in college? A few, but Engineering courses are HARD. Physics, Comp Sci, Programming, Math, Chemistry, Quantum Mechanics, ect. And when you have this degree, you can be laid off at a moments notice.

However, if you have a business degree - and you make the grades - you can be the schmuch that blows the company's earnings, causes the layoffs, and still be the guy watching the engineers drag themselves across the parking lot from your desk. Your job will be secure.

Anymore, I'd think seriously about jobs that by definition, can not be exported. Medical comes to mind.

Sure, I get paid well; I've got the experience and the skills to make a good salary. But, if some schmuch decides that we need to cut the technical talent to generate better quarterly revenue projections - I'm kicked out the door right away. Managers almost NEVER get laid off; and all a manager needs is a business degree. Very few Engineering Managers have any technical skills whatsoever.

Fine- sounds good. Warn our kids off of taking the "hard" classes like engineering. So this increases the shortage of engineers, forcing us to import more engineering talent from overseas. 30 - 50 grand starting salary with full benefits is darn attractive to lots of folks who have no opportunity in their home countries. Hey, I have a full-time state job paying about 30 grand- and I'm still going to school nights to get an engineering degree. Not for the money- but because I really want to do engineering. I have a job lined up as soon as I have my A. S., and the company will pay for me to get my batchelor's.

I can't believe someone on FR is advising children to go for the "easy money" instead of doing something worthwile.

By all means, have the kids sell out and go be "money men" managers. After all, compared to a six-figure salary, one's concience and personal honor are small sacrifices to make.

I'll keep that in mind, but it doesn't pay anywhere NEAR enough for me to move. I can commute for an hour and make 50% more than their top paying salary right now to Winston Salem/Greensboro NC. No wonder its the most underfilled position, it doesn't pay enough for an experienced, serious IT person. At that salary they would do well to find someone who just got out of school and has a couple years experience. If they have any certifications at all, they can forget it for that money.

While it's easier to spread HIV between gay men, most of the victims of the disease in Africa are heterosexual.

If you love engineering fine, but remember these days most engineers just write specifications and the fun stuff gets done overseas.

I would suggest to a young person considering engineering in college to go ahead get the degree but when you look for a job get a job as a sales support engineer or customer service engineer. For most companies these are the jobs they want native English speakers for as you will need to interface to the customer. Not the phone support crap but find a company that sells high end systems and do the sales support, installation and service.

Other than that think biotech. The FDA regulations means more often than not that the products or drugs are made in the US.

Engineering simply isn't worth the hassle, there is no job security, there is no long term incentive. As you indicated, you either become a top-hitter in your profession; or you are laid off in favor of hiring 2 H1-B engineers. Once you make it to the top-hitter position; you will be beat up daily, just to make sure that you remain consistently worth more than 2 H1B's. It's simply not worth it; and I'm in the lower 6-figures. If I had the same time/talent and applied it to just about any other field; I'd be working fewer hours, far less stress, and earning double what I am now.

Actually, Administrative Assistant (a paraprofessional title, not an entry level job) and Information Technology Specialist 2 are both salary grade 18- $46,732 to start, $56,567 after 7 years (not including a 3% contract raise due 4/1/07.) As compared to entry level for a clerk at $23,614 or a truck driver/highway worker at $26,415. We have trouble recruiting mechanics at a starting salary of $33,147. We also offer a "location bonus" of $1,200 annually for employees located "downstate" due to high cost of living. Not near enough to help recruiting in those areas- that's not even three months extra rent.

But your point is valid in that we have more qualified applicants than jobs for administrative titles, and more jobs than qualified applicants for the IT titles.

Here's the current vacancy list. There are vastly more unfilled positions- these are the only ones for which there is management and budget approval to fill. Many other jobs are being filled by consultants, at higher cost per hour (even given our generous salary and benefits) but no better qualtity of work. (The consultant employees don't reap the benefit of the difference- the politically connected consultant firms pocket it.)

I was hoping that someone with experience in such matters could direct me to a reliable source, preferably one that claims that the average engineering salary in India is $15K/year, instead of being told to look the statistic up myself. Be my guest.

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